After The Night
by IbelieveINmagic26
Summary: BE RE-WRITTEN AND RE-POSTED UNDER THE SAME NAME..... sequel to '10 years from then'
1. Chapter 1

Some days it seems like everything would've gone much better if you'd just never gotten out of bed. Kym Weasley was having one of those days. She'd woken up late, hadn't had time to striaghten her hair, stepped on Peabody (her cat), had wondeorus scratches up and down her leg from Peabody, and, to top it all off, she was fighting with her father on the way to Kings Cross to get on the Hogwarts Express for her sixth year.

"I said no, Kymberly, now drop it." Fred Wealey shouted from the drivers seat if their new blue mercedes. Fred had stopped working full time at Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes four years ago, taking a job offered to him at the Ministry. He was now the head of the Muggle Secrecy Deptartment, an offshoot of the Department for the Prevention of Unlawful Magic, which dealt with keeping the secret of the Wizarding World and disguising many Wizarding activities for the muggle press. It involved a lot of press, as it was a big job that forced him to give lots of interviews and issue a lot of pres releases. It forced him to double as a member of the muggle government, so they'd had to move to the muggle world and adopt a more muggle lifestyle.

"But, Dad" Kymberly protested. "Be reasonable. They are my friends. I used to live there, so it's not like I'm flying 3,000 miles to go see complete strangers."

"They mine as well be complete strangers!" Fred shouted at her "You haven't been back there since you moved here. You haven't been to see any of them since...since you came here." Kym was furious. She knew what he was going to say, and it made he rmade that he seriously refused to say anything about the fact that her mother had died. Sometimes she wanted to talk about her, to remember her. Even if it hurt a little bit, she wanted to remember her mother, but her refused to ven say her name.

"Since mom died. Okay, you can say it." Kym hissed at him. "It won't kill you to say it, I promise. You do remember her name don't you? Hermione. C'mon, say it with me. Her-Mi-O-Ne. And she's dead. She was murdered." Kym was crying now and her dad was just staring at her. She was about to start going on him again but he cut her off.

"That's enough." He bellowed, shocking Kym into silence.

"You just always avoid the topic, dad." Kym siad softly. "It's okay to talk about her. I want to talk about her sometimes."

"Did it occur to you that it hurts me to talk about it?" Fred snapped at her. Kym shrunk down into her seat, ashamed of what she'd said. It wasn't common for him to explode at her like that. It was uncommon for them to even fight, but recently they'd been fighting more and more.

_Probably because it's going to be five years in two weeks _Kym thought to herself sadly. They didn't say anything, but they both knew they date was coming fast. She got out of the car quietly once they reached the station, and both of them continued into Platform 9 3/4 in silence. Once she was at the train he grabbed her back and hugged her softly.

"You know the drill" He said softer, kinder. "Owl me when you get there, and no sending home any toilet seats." Kym smiled softly. It was the same send off she'd gotten every year. She nodded, assuring him she would, and walked on to the train with her bags. She had just gotten her trunk onto the train when she slipped, accidentally knocking someone over. She jumped up quickly, apologizing to whoever she'd knocked over.

"Are you alright? I'm so so..." She stopped where she was, mid apology, and started glaring harshly, tensing automatically, when she saw who was standing there brushing off his, most likely designer, robes. Vincent Malfoy was standing there smirking at her.

"Yes, Weasley. I'm fine." Kym scowled, crossing her arms, as his smirk deepened. "So nice of you you care."

"I don't, Malfoy. It's a pity, though, I was hoping you'd have to be sent to St. Mungo's and miss this year" They two glared at each other before someone's voice interupted them. They both turned to the unwelcomed visitor.

"Wow, and the train hasn't even started moving yet. I'm sure that it must be a record, even for the two of you. You must be so proud of yourselves." Kym turned to her friend Tarin, who was trying, and failing, not to laugh. She rolled her eyes and walked over.

"Let's go find a compartment." She said, grabbing her trunk and storming down the hallway with out one glance back at a certain Vincent Malfoy.

"So remind me of this lovely story of why you and Vincent Malfoy hate each other." Tarin said as they walked into an empty compartent that already had Tarin's trunk in it, as well as their friend Dana's. "Didn't you used to be friends?" Tarin let out an involuntary shudder that almost made Kym laugh.

Tarin was one of "those" people. The ones who are beautiful, kind, smart, and everyone loves to hate for it. It almost made Kym hate her, in a way, but Tarin was only like that in a different way. She was beautiful because she was different. She had brown, short hair that had baby blue streaks in it (the result of a glamour potion gone wrong the year before, but she liked them) She had beautiful blue eyes that matched her hair, and was kind of the 'punk' of revenclaw. She always personalized her uniform with tons of bracelets and other accesories. She wasn't insanely thin, but she was tiny, only about 5' 2" and 100 lbs. She was the top of their class and was kind to people she liked, but had a huge temper if you pissed her off. Everyone loved her, but she was kind of a loner, prefering to hang out with Kym and their friend Dana. She was loud and outspoken, and was generally the entertainment during their classes. She, Kymberly, and Dana were pretty much the princesses of Ravenclaw, second only to the snooty brats people only liked because, if they didn't, their families were poweful enough to destroy them.

"We were, and you've heard the story before." Kym said, pulling the door closed behind them.

"That was like three years ago, I want to hear it again." Tarin laughed, making Kym shake her head at her friends plain energy.

"It's nothing exciting. I just realized that he was more like his father than I thought when we first met." Kym said, lying comfortably across the bench in the compartment. They talked more about their summers, and it wasn't until the train started moving that they'd realized someone was missing. "We should go find Dana soon. Where is she?"

"I saw her before, so she knows where we are." Tarin said from behind the cover of 'Vogue'. Tarin was a muggleborn and proud. It was her tradition to bring as many muggle magazines into the school as she could, and see who would read them. It was her way of deciding who she'd be nice to. "She said she had to go find someone. Didn't catch who, so don't worry she'll be here."

"Well, I'm bored." Kym said, standing "So I'm going to go find her." She walked out of the door quickly and made her way down the hall, stopping every so often to ask if anyone had seen Dana. Dana had always been just a little bit closer to Kym than she was to Tarin, not that it was a big difference, but it was there. Dana had been a year ahead of Kym at St.Mary's in Annapolis, and when Kym was accelerated into Dana's year at Hogwarts, Dana was the only one who was nice to her at first. It made a big difference in how people looked at her. Dana was a stereotypical girl next door. She was soft spoken and shy, but undeniabley kind to everyone. She had chesnut brown hair that fell in soft waves down to her mid-back, and rich chocolate brown eyes. Her skin was fair, and she had a slight dusting of freckles that went over her nose.

"Have any of you seen Dana Raleigh?" Kym asked, not really looking at who she was talking to. She heard a soft giggle and immediately looked around. Dana sitting right there. It took Kym a moment or two to notice who she was with, especially because they were Slytherins. Once she found out, it didn't help the situation. Jason Nott, Vincent Malfoy, and Christopher Goyle. It wasn't till she was about to start talking that she noticed Jason Nott's arm was wrapped protectively around Dana's waist. It didn't really help her tied tongue, especially when he noticed she was staring and smirked, warpping his arm tighter.

_I really shouldn't be surprised _Kym thought _Their parents probably know each other. Stupid inbred purebloods. Probably related, too...that's sick_

Dana was one of the only purebloods Kym had ever met that didn't make her want to go throw herself from the Astronomy Tower. The Raleighs were a very old pureblood family, but had been somewhat ostracized due to their move to America centuries before. Their name was still powerful, so it wasn't very surprising to know that they were reuniting with people like the Notts and the Malfoys. They had moved back to England so that Dana could go to Hogwarts, but had lived in Annapolis with Kym for many years. They hadn't really been friends at St. Mary's, because Dana was a year ahead of her, but when they saw each other at Hogwarts, Kym's first day being a year ahead, they became friends.

"Something we can help you with, Weasel, or did you just come to stare?" Goyle drawled. Goyle was, undeniabley, the best looking of all of the Slytherins. She had heard stories about his father, and couldn't believe the two were related, unless the stories were lies. Goyle was very toned, he was the Quidditch captain for Slytherin, with dark brown hair that just barely hung into his face. His only problem was that his ego matched his looks. He was extremely high strung and vain. Kym rolled her eyes and turned to Dana.

"We were looking for you, didn't know where'd you gotten to." She said. "We were bored." She added with a shrug.

"I'm not surprised, a mudblood and a blood traitor, how entertaining can that be?" Jason Nott laughed. The two other Slytherins in the room laughed as well, but Dana blushed and avoided Kym's eyes, looking upset.

"Look, Dana," Kym said, refusing to look anywhere but at Dana. "When you're finished hanging out with these assholes you know where our compartment is." Kym turned to walk away, but heard Dana call out.

"Wait up, Kym." Dana gave Jason a pointed glare. "I'm done hanging out with these assholes now, so I'll just walk with you." Kym tried her best to resist laughing at the shocked expression on Jason's face, but almost caved so she let out a smirk. The two girls walked out of the room, slamming a door behind them.

"What was going on back there?" Kym asked Dana once they were a safe distance away.

"Well, I met Jason over the summer. My parents forced me to meet and hang out with their friends and their friend's children. Jason pretty much kept me sane." Kym almost stopped dead.

"That ass kept you sane?" Kym said, incredulous. Dana just sighed and grabbed Kym's arm so they stopped. The shorter brunette gave Kym a sad look.

"I don't know that person." Kym gave her a look. "He's different when we're alone." The two continued walking down the hallway. Dana talking about all of the different events her parents had dragged her to this summer, but Kym was only half listening. Surprisingly, she couldn't stop thinking about her mother.

They continued walking until they reached the compartment, but when they got there, Kym found she was still feeling restless and decided to continue walking.

"You go talk to Tarin, I have to go to the bathroom." Kym lied smoothly, walking away before the petite brunette coud say anything to stop her. She wandered way, back down the corrdor which, supposedly, went to the nearest bathroom. She walked for what seemed like twenty minutes, but still had yet to pass a bathroom. She sighed when she saw an empty compartment, decided some moments to herself might be useful in clearing her head. She had been thinking about her mother a lot recently, and it had been messing with her mind. She missed her, of course, but Kym seemed to have trouble accepting what had happened, even now. It seemed like no matter how hard she tried, she'd always have these moments where she forgot what had happened, which inevitably led to Kym sobbing because she'd have to relive losing her mother. No one had been albe to explain these moments, even Dumbledore. Recently she'd been having vague feelings of another incident, like now when she couldn't stop thinking about her.

"What are you doing here, Weasel?" A voice snapped from the doorway. Kym looked up to see Vincent Malfoy standing in the door, looking angry.

"It was an empty compartment, Malfoy." She said, tiredly. "Really, just leave. I don't feel like dealing with you." Kym said. She realized then that her face was soaked. She had been crying.

"I didn't mean what you were doing here." He said, acting annoyed but walked forward. "I meant what are you doing, as in action doing." He sat down next to her. His voice hadn't betrayed any kindness, so the closeness made Kym uneasy. She leaned away from him but still didn't look him in the eye.

"It's nothing." She snapped. Malfoy sighed and forced her to look at him.

"You were crying, Kym." He said, finally dropping the bite in his voice. "I don't think I've ever seen you cry before."

"It's none of your business, Malfoy." Kym was beyond embarassed at the situation. She was mortified. She didn't cry in public. Ever. It just wasn't something she did. She hated showing her weakness that way.

"You were crying in an open compartment." He said. "I was just trying to help." He stood, but didn't exit the compartment.

"I don't want you help." She said, wiping at her eyes and standing to face him. He let out a sigh of frustration.

"You are so incredibly stubborn." He shouted. "Why don't you want my help? Obviously something is wrong."

"Because I hate you." She spat at him before storming past him. He just sat there, stunned before giving a shout of frustration and walking back to his own compartment.

(a/n: I know that it is short, but it is all that I could include w/ out giving away too much of my plot at once. I did want to clear up a few thngs that might be confusing.

1. Kym did the equivalent of skipping a grade, which means everyone that is in 6th yr is a yr older than her

2. don't kill me for making Kym n Vincent hate each other, and don't kill me for telling u that their fued wont be ending for a while

3. **MOST IMPORTANT PART** I've decided that because I have so many OC's needed for this story, i'm going to reward some faithful fans. To get a part in my story, you just have to PM (NOT REVIEW) ur favorite part of the first story to me, as well as some details about yourself for your character.

thnaks for reading, please review!)


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER TWO: WHAT DREAMS ARE**

**Annapolis, Maryland**

**7 Shipwright Street**

Hermione satin her room gently rocking Adrian. He was a just under five years old and had been having terrible dreams recently that she couldn't figure out. They weren't nightmares, as they didn't scare him. He'd wake up and talk about a magical world with witches and wizards that had wands and cast spells. She's read that children his age had extremely well devleoped imaginations, but this went above and beyond the normal. He told detailed storied with talking animals and centuars. They were outlandish yet eerily not at the same time.

"Is he asleep yet?" A voice called from the doorway. Hermione looked over and smiled at her boyfriend of a year and a half, Evan. He was the perfect man for her. He was sweet, kind, and never judged her for getting confused. She had moments where she didn't have a clue who she was or where she was. No doctor had ever been able to find anything wrong with her, and no one had ever heard of cases quite like hers.

"Just about." Hermione responded, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. They had gotten into the habit of being there with Adrian when he went to sleep by the advice of a psychiatrist who wanted to analyze Adrian's dreams, and they just never stopped. Evan had asked Hermione to move into his much bigger house in a different part of downtown Annapolis about a six months ago, and had quickly become a part of the tradition.

"Well lets put him to bed then." Evan said, gently taking Adrian from her arms and holding him as Hermione pulled down his sheets that were decorated with 'Transformers', his favorite cartoons. He was placed just as gently into the bed as Hermione pulled the sheets up around him. She kissed him gently on the head and walked to the door with Evan, hugging him.

"I have to go clean up the dinner mess." She said softly, walking past him after giving him a peck on the cheek.

"Let me help." He said, wrapping an arm around her waist and guiding her over the the intercom at the top of the stairs. "Anna, could you please handle the dishes in the kitchen, thank you."

Anna was the polish housekeeper that Evan had hired before Hermione got there, but kept on now because she was a close friend. She was Adrian's unofficial godmother. Ana was older and had long brown hair that she kept swept up and pulled tightly back into a bun. She wore glasses and looked slightly frail. but everyone knew she was anything but. She was someone even Evan was afriad to cross.

"Evan..." Hermione started but he just hugged her

"Just relax." He said, smiling "There's a movie and popcorn waiting for us in the living room." Hermione smiled and hugged him back. Evan was always surprising her with little things like movie nights. He was always so sweet and gently, esecially when it came to Adrian. As much as it pained Hermione to say it, she had no idea who Adrian's real father was. It wasn't that she had slept around or anything, quite the opposite. She remembered vague things, and doctors had told her she'd been the victim of a brutal attack while she was pregnant and lost her memory. She didn't have much chance of getting it back, but she remembered enough that it didn't bother her. She knew her parents were dead, that Adrian's father was never coming for them, and that she had no family or friends besides those in Annapolis, even though she was British.

**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**

**The Fifth Floor Charms Classroom**

Kym sat in her charms class, completely ignoring her aunt as she taught them the now required curriculem of defensive charms like 'expelliarmus'. She knew that her aunt had noticed but hadn't said anything to her yet. It was five years. Five years ago today she'd come home to find her father, who had supposedly died, crying into the arms of her aunt. It was the only time she'd ever seen him cry. He'd completely broken down. Kym wanted more than anything to go floo him. The longer she sat in the classroom he more stiffled and trapped she felt. It soon became too much for her so she shot out of her seat and ran for the door, not even bothering to grab her bags.

She didn't know where she was heading, just that she had to get out of there. It was horrible. She finally composed herself and collapsed against the wall of whichever corridor she'd managed to run to. She looked around and realialized she had never really been through this corridor before.

_That's odd_ Kymberly thought, walking through the small hallway. She reached a door that looked as if it had been knocked almost completely off it's hinges, leaving it hanging awkwardly. She pushed passed it and walked into a giant room that was completely bare. No lights were shinging in the room so Kym tok her wand from her pocket and cast a _lumos_ so she could see. The room really was completely empty. There were no chairs or desks or anything. Not even a single window.

"Who's there?" A voice called from the doorway. Kym spun around and put the light from her wand out. She quickly ran for a wall, thinking it would be harder to find her where it was darker. She pressed herself up against the wall and was careful not to make a sound.

"I know someone's in here." The voice called again. It was deep, obviously male, but smooth. She heard the footsteps approaching and held her breath. Her heart almost stopped when the footsteps stopped right in front of her. "Who are you?" The question was barely a whisper and it made the hairs tingle on the back of Kym's neck. He was less than a foot away from her, obviously freaked out as well from the sounds of it. The sent of an expensive cologne invaded her nostrils and suddenly she made the connection.

"Bugger off, Nott" Kym said shoving him backwards and walking forward.

"Ah, the little She-Weasel." Amusement flooded into the voice in place of the worry. "and I thought it was someone to be afriad of."

"_Tarantellegra_" Kym shouted, angry. "I really don't need to be delaing with you right now, so I'll repeat myself: bugger off." Watching the worried Slytherin dance like an idiot almost cheered Kym up, but she soon flet guilty and muttered the counter charm, cursing her conscience under her breath. Jason Nott took a few angry breaths and started stalking towards her. Right as she was about to turn and run or fight back, he disappeared from her view with a shout. She looked around frantically, but with her wand light ot it was pitch black and she couldn't see very far in front of her face.

"Where'd you go, Nott?" She shouted "_Lumos_." Kym walked forward with her light until she saw it. It being a medium sized trap door that had obviously been left open. "Are you down there, Nott?"

"What do you think, She-Weasel?" A sneer called from below.

"Why am I not surprised you are still capable of being a complete ass in any situation?" Kym sighed. "Are you hurt? Should I get Pomfrey?"

"I'll be fine, Weasley." His voice sounded much less mocking and she heard him sigh. "Any ideas on how to get me out of here? HOLY SH-" The rest of the words were muted, as if something covered his mouth.

"Nott!" Kym shouted, getting nervous. "Bloody hell, Nott. What's going on down there." SHe heard more muffled shouts before he managed to get a reply.

"There's some kind of plant down here" He shouted, obviously nervous and out of breath. "It keeps squeezing me." Kym sat there trying to remember her Herbology (probably her least favorite class). Suddenly something hit her from behind and Kym fell right onto an indignant Jason Nott.

"I somehow doubt you coming down here is going to help get me out." He sneered as he fought against the green vines she could now see surrounding him. Suddenly she felt something creeping against her leg and soon she too was being squeezed by the plant.

"Not really something I meant to do, Nott." She growled, almost regretting that the plant had a hold of her arms so she couldn't smack him. "You are such and arrogant prick."

"No need to be jealous-" He began but Kym suddenly shouted.

"That's it" moments later she felt the plant release she started laughing. "It's Devil's Snare, Nott. Just relax and it'll let you go."

"Because relaxing is so easy right now." He shouted down to her, and she could see he was still fighting.

"Just don't fight, you idiot. Stop being such a stubborn prick and just do it." She saw him slowly stop fighting and then he fell through the plant with a grunt, landing a few feet from her. "There has to be a way out around her somewhere." Kym said, walking past him without even glancing at him. (a/n: if you haven't figured out where they are by now, I'm kind of worried about your IQ level)

"Where are we going?" Jason asked, appearing at her side. Even the way he carried himself reeked of a percieved self-importance that made Kym want to hurt him. She groaned and sped up. "Are you going to answer me, Weasel?" Suddenly Kym had enough. She spun around and grabbed his arm.

"Let's get one thing straight, Nott." She hissed at him. "I don't like you. I never will like you. The only reason I'm down here is because I was pushed and would probably give my wand arm to be anywhere else." She turned and kept walking, not even caring if he started following her or not. She came to a stop at a small wooden door which, luckily, opened easily when she tried it. She did give into her conscience and look behind her, only to see that Jason had apparently turned and gone a different way, as she didn't see him. She walked into the room to find it empty, minus a few keys that lay randomly across the floor. She gave a curious glance but kept walking, finding the door on the other side of the room alrady had the key in it and was unlocked.

"Weasley?" Kym spun around quickly to see Jason Nott standing there. "Didn't want to get lost." He shrugged. Kym rolled her eyes and softly pushed on the door, it opened with a loud creak, and only enough that Kym had to squeeze through. She continued forward and saw an open hallway with potion bottles arranged or cracked along the side. She glanced at them warily before quickly hurrying on. After walking down another long corridor, Kym and Nott, who were now walking closer to each other to combat the creepiness of the place, came to an open room. It was circular, almost like a stadium in the way the steps went in a giant circle, leading down to an open area at the bottom. In this open area was a plain looking mirror. It stood almost regally, but seemed dwarfed by te space, making it look exceedingly ordinary.

"What is this doing here?" Nott asked, obviously excited, running forward. Kym was completely confused, but continued to walk nervously towards the mirror. Jason was standing there lookin absolutely dumbfounded in front of the mirror. Kym walked forward and tried to see what had him so amazed, only to see nothing but his reflection.

"You may not be butt ugly, Nott." Kym sneered "But you are by no means the stunning." Jason loked shocked and spun around.

"You don't know what this is?" He asked, shocked. kym raised an eyebrow at him and he waved her off. "Of course not, you're a mudblood. Sorry, muggle born." This shocked Kym more than when she was pushed thorugh the trap door.

"Something you saw make you pull the stick from your ass?" Jason looked guilty but annoyed. Instead of saying anything he stood aside, pushing Kym so she was in front of the mirror. For a moment Kym didn't notice anything strange but then she saw other people. She spun around but didn't see anyone but Nott, who was standing over to the side, waiting. She looked back at her reflection. The people were clearer now. It was her father and her mother, arms aorund each other, on one side of her. They both looked happy and in love. At their feet was a toddler, a little girl who held onto her fathers pant leg like a security blanket. At first there was no one else in the picture, but then someone else walked in. Vincent Malfoy. He rushed over to her and gave her a passionate kiss and hug, spinning her around, making the mirror image of her giggle and shreik in surprise. She thought she would be repulsed by the image, but found herself feeling entranced and elated. Before long she felt herself being pulled away from the mirror and, for a quick moment, she was sad about it and wanted to go back.

"What was that?" Kym asked breathily, shocked from what she had seen.

"That is the Mirror of Erised." Nott said softly and, surprisingly, not arrogantly "It shows you what in life will make you most happy."

"Like...if I really wanted a milkshake, it would show me with a milkshake?" Kym asked, not really grapsing the concept because of what she had seen.

"Kind of." He paused for a moment, trying to find a way to phrase it properly. "It's closer to something like this. If you feel like you can't do something, but really want to, it will show you succeeding. Whatever would make you truly happy, not momentarily." Kym nodded, well that threw a wrench in what she thought about her life. So she wanted her mother back, and the little sister she never had to be here, and she wanted them all to be happy. And she wanted Vincent Malfoy, apparently.

"What did you see?" Kym asked before she could stop herself, her hands instantly flew to her mouth. "You don't have to answer that."

"I saw Dana." He said plainly, almost dejectedly. "We were alone and happy. Married, obviously, and she was pregnant." Kym was shocked, and her look most have said so. "I did actually like her. And I'm not evil."

"That's good to know." Kym said with a small laugh. it had become obvious in the last couple minutes that he was anything but.

"That's how we got to talking." Nott continued. "In the beginning of the summer she refused to talk to me beause she thought I was evil, I made it my mission to prove her wrong. Me and my friends aren't nice, we know, but we arne't evil."

"Really could've fooled me." Kym said, giving him a small smile to show she wasn't completely serious. it felt so weird having a civil conversation with him, considering they hadn't managed that in the entire seven years that they'd been at the same school.

"Really." He said, laughing a little. "We may say rude things, but we don't really feel the same as most Slytherins. That's why we're all friends."

"Even Goyle?"

"Especially Goyle." He added, looking her dead in the eye. "We approached her because she's in the same position we are."

"What position is that exactly?" Kym asked, starting to get somewhat concerned by the seriousness of the conversation.

"You know better than anyone the situation we are in here." He said, looking kym straight in the eyes. She shifted uncomfortabley under his stare, but he pressed on. "Your mother and father were captured and most likely tortured, your mother was supposedly mur-"

"What do you mean "supposedly"? I would know if there was any "supposedly" about it, okay?" Kym shout, standing up abruptly and beginning to walk away. She didn't get far because Jason grabbed her arm and spun her around.

"You never thought about it? You never felt like it wasn't real?" He looked her in the eye, but she avoided it. They sat in silence for a few minutes before they both sighed and sat back down.

"Are we planning on leaving here anytime soon, or are we just going to sit here until some other idiot falls down the trap door and finds us?" Kym asked, Jason looked over to the mirror longing to look into again.

"We should probably go." He said, still not looking away from the mirror. He sighed and they began to try and find a way out. "What did you see in the mirror anyway?" Kym felt herself blush and looked at the floor, thinking of seeing his best friend in her reflection.

"Just my family."

"The entire Weasley clan fit in that mirror?" Nott asked, smiling. Kym just giggled.

"Stop that." Kym said, hitting him softly "Not all of them, just my mom, dad, and baby sister." Jason stopped where he was and looked at her weirdly.

"Baby sister?"

"Yeah." Kym said, nodding softly "My mom was pregnant when...yeah, and I always told myself it was a little girl." He gave her a small smile.

"That's a nice thought."

"Why are you being nice to me?" Kym asked. They reached a dead end and sighed.

"Seriously?" Kym nodded "Because I figured knowing the girl who's in love with my best friend would be a plus, espiecially if her best friend is the girl I'm in love with."

"Excuse me?" Kym asked, shocked. Jason just laughed. "We have a while, I'll explain. But you'll soon learn I know everything."

**Annapolis, Maryland, USA**

**7 Shipwright Street (Evan's House)**

Hermione walked from the room softly, trying not to wake Evan. She was having trouble sleeping and needed to find her way to the kitchen for some tea, the only thing that ever seemed to soothe her. She'd been having weird feelings lately. Just feelings like there was something bad happening, but she couldn't determine exactly what. She entered the kitchen only to find the lights already on. She looked around to see if someone was there, but couldn't see anyone. Suddenly she heard voices from the living room. She walked around the corner and saw Ana sitting in front of the fireplace talking into it animatedly.

"...shown no signs of remembering anything?" A male voice said softly. Hemione jumped a foot, not seeing anyone. She ducked behind a wall, waiting to hear more.

"Not at all. She's still happy, though. She hasn't discovered anything." That was Anna. Hermione had been around long enough to know that voice anywhere, except it was different. It was softer somehow.

"That's always good. You musn't rush her, let her move at her own pace, Minerva. I know she was close to you, she was a bright witch."

_Witch? _Hermione felt herslef getting short of breath, as if she'd run miles.

"She was the brightest witch we'd ever taught, Remus, you know that as well as I. It's been five years, any person who has any chance of recovering their memories has done so. It's just sad to have lost such a talented young woman." Hermione tugged at the coller of her t-shirt, the room was suddenly stiffling to her. Her head was spinning uncontrolably, and the room was spinning like a top in front of her. She leaned against the wall behind her for support, listening to Anna and the strange man talk about the young witch, which Hermione was feeling uncomfortable about. She decided to make her presence known because she needed help making the room stand still.

"Anna?" Hermione said, walking slowly into the room. Anna spun around quickly, the fire going out suddenly. Hermione's head began to spin faster, and suddenly things were popping into her mind. It wasn't the most pleasant experience in the entire world. She didn't understand why images she didn't remember ever seeing were popping into her head.

"Hermione." Anna said, walking over, and Hermione realized that it didn't look like her very much. Her face looked more drawn, and her face looked much more haggard and sharp. Her hair was the same as always, pulled into a tight, impeccable bun. "I know this is going to be confusing, but I need to you to stay calm for a few moments while I bring someone here to help you." Hermione opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off. "It will be easier if you wait until we've sorted you out to ask questions." Hermione just nodded and watched as Anna walked over to the fire and through dirt from one of the potted plants into it. She spoke to the fire softly and moments later the room filled with people. Almost all of the with red hair. Remembering Adrian's dreams, Hermione let out a short scream, curling into a small ball on the couch. Moments later there was a small sound from upstiars and someone came barreling into the room.

"What's going on here." Evan shouted, holding a candle stick holder. Hermione almost laughed he looked so ridiculous in his pajama pants, groggy eyes, and swinging blindly with a candle stick holder.

_It's not like it will do anything against their wands_ Hermione put her head in her hands, thinking she was going crazy.

"Someone needs to start explaining now." Evan shouted, moving so he was standing in between the group and Hermione.

"Who are you?" One of the red haired men asked. Evan paled visibly, looking wary. The man had long-ish red hair that was ties back, matched with a weathered look and a few scars. The others didn't look much more promissing. Except for the smallest, who looked weak, but Evan was pretty sure he'd be more dangerous, considering the pompous way he carried himself. He finally managed to remember to speak and drew himself up.

"I'm Evan Ganlid. This is my house. Now why are you threatening my girlfriend?" The entire gorup of invading wizards, minus Anna, who was standing with them, looked shocked, almost hurt. Immediately two of the group disappeared in thin air, making Hermione's head start spinning again. Anna looked pissed.

"Stupid twins, I told them no magic just yet."

"Now, Minerva." An older man said. He was the only man present without red hair, and looked about twenty years older, at least. "What did you exect. No warning or anything?" The spinning in Hermione's head increased, getting almost as bad as it was before.

"Someone better bloody well tell me why in Merlin's name I have almost the entire Weasley clan in my living room." Hermione shouted suddenly, surprising herself. She knew them? Suddenly, as she looked at them, she realized she did recognize them. There was another sound on the stairs and all of a sudden Hermione felt a pull on her leg.

"I told you theys was real, Mommy" Adrian said, giggling happily.

(a/n: **I only have one spot remaining for my OCs, anyone interested PM me your favorite scene from the first section (10 Years From Then)**

okay, people, I'm in college. i'm not going to have time to update frequently, and i have two stories i'm working on, so please be patient :-) i'm going to update whichever story I think is getting the most interest (fyi: my other story Heart Break is in fairy tales section, check it out :-)) )


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER THREE**

a/n: Hey everyone! Just a chance to say thanks to everyone who sent in for a spot for an OC, all those positions have been filled. This chapter actually introduces 2 of them :-) everyone say hi to Sarah and John!!!

**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wiardry**

**Second Floor Corridor**

Christmas break was looming around the corner and Kymberly was almost dreading it. Things with her father had been strained since the train station, and their owls had been few and far between. Not that things at school had been much better. Fights between the houses were becoming more common. In past years, since the fall of Voldemort, the rivarlry between houses only went as far as Quidditch and the house cup. Now it was each house against the others, even the Hufflepuffs were getting vicious. It was now too dangerous to go anywhere by yourself, as their were high chances of getting harrassed by other houses. Not that it stopped Kym, much anyway. She was becoming known for her dueling skills very quickly.

"Weasley." A voice shouted down the crowded hallway. She spun annoyed, knowing she had to hurry to charms or she would have to deal with an irrate aunt. It wasn't on her list of things she would enjoy.

"What do you want" She stopped to see who was there and she saw a very out of breath Nott rushing towards her. "Nott?" Her eyes went wide as she saw everyone practically slow to a stop to trry and figur eout what was going on. Tensions between Slytherin and Gryffindor had gotten to the point that even Professors were refusing to have classes that combined the two classes.

"We need to talk" Kym stopped in her tracks, turning to stare at him incredulously.

"Nott, you just came up to me, in public, and created a major scene, just to tell me we need to talk? Which we don't have to, by the way. We are kind of on opposite side of the fight, in more than one instance." She turned to walk away, but Jason grabbed her arm, pulling her into a small alcove off of the hallway that most people missed because of the tapestry that almost completey covered it.

"I need your help." Nott said, coming so clase to begging that Kym almost had to laugh. This was absolutely ludacris. "It has nothing to do with Dana, which I'm handeling on my own thank you very much."

"I have charms." Kym said, rolling her eyes but not moving from her spot. Nott looked so desperate.

"I can't really ask anyone else." Nott said carefully. "Ineedhelpwithmydueling."

"Seriously?" Kym said, laughing softly.

"You can't tell anyone." Jason said, shuffling his feet awkwardly. It seemed so weird to Kym that she almost thought she was seeing things. Jason Nott, who was normally Mr. Cool and Suave, was stumblingover his own two feet.

"What's really going on?" Kym asked, getting suspicious. He just shrugged and glanced around, trying to find something else to look at.

"It's nothing." He said, somewhat aggrivated. "Can you help me?" Kym regarded him suspiciously, but nodded.

"Sure." She looked down at her watch and nearly freaked. She had one minute to go three floors up. She cursed loudly causing Jason to laugh.

"Don't worry. Just go out." Kym quiclly grabbed her bag and burst through the tapestry, only to find herself inside bursting through her charms classroom door.

"Hi." Kym said, blushing furiously as she walked to her seat behind Tarin, getting there just as her aunt came walking softly into the room. Tarin turned to look at her, raising an eyebrow, looking somewhat amused. Dana however was glaring steadily at her, looking furious. Kym mouthed a confused 'what' at her friends, wondering exactly what they knew.

_so heard you had a little rendevous w/ Nott before class_

_-Tarin_

_**no!-Kym**_

**seriously?- Dana**

_**he came and asked me a question, and i answered- Kym**_

_doesn't that count as a rendevous?- Tarin_

_**no!- Kym**_

**so what did he ask you?- Dana**

_**i can't say...-Kym**_

_if you had a rendevous w/ Nott, just admit it- Tarin_

"Ms. Weasley, please refrain from throwing things at your classmates" Ginny said, somewhat amused, but scolding her niece.

"Sorry, Professor Potter." Kym said, smiling, but throwing glares in Tarin's direction. Dana was on the other side of Tarin, but she'd already turned around and was staring steadily at the board in front of her.

Later that day Kym was walking through the hall when someone grabbed her arm. It was Angelina, her cousin that was also in her year, but was in Gryffindor. Kym walked over to the side of the hall with her.

"What's going on?" Kym asked. Her cousin rarely talked to her. She was more into what people that about her, so being seen with a Ravenclaw was like, the highest betrayel besides being seen with a Slytherin, so it surprised Kym.

"I heard you were accosted in the hallway by a Slytherin. Jason Nott at that."

"You heard right. What of it?" Kym said, pretending to be nonchlant about the whole thing, but knowing the story of this conversation would be passed around the entire school by the time she got back to her next class.

And she was right. The news soared across the school faster than gossip normally did. Her potions class was buzzing with it by time she got down to the dungeons. The "Little Weasley" was associating with Slytherin scum and defended herself to her cousin over it. Plus there was the fact that it wasn't just any Slytherin, it was Jason Nott.

**The Burrow**

**The Attic**

Fred sat in the back of the Weasley's attic, which was much nicer now that the finally got the ghoul to leave. They had re-painted and moved everything to one side, making the other side of the attic a little lounge area, which was needed since so many people went there to socialize.

Fred was there for a different reason at the moment. Hermione didn't remember. She was dating. She was dating someone who could actually be there for her and not put her danger. The fact that she was dating alone was crushing for him, but on top of that it was someone who was probably good for her. Someone who wouldn't re-introduce her into a world which thought she was dead and were so many were happy to think she was dead.

"Fred?" A voice called from downstairs. It was Ginny. "Fred, where are you?" Fred sighed. Dealing with people lately had been so difficult. He wasn't allowed to go to the store anymore because, last time he went, he almost started shouting at the young which behind the counter who smiled as she gave him his change and told him to "have a nice day". Like that was possible.

"I'm up here, Gin." Fred finally responded once he realized she probably would worry if he didn't respond.

"Why are you up here?" Ginny asked as she jumped up the stairs. She had become very obsessed with fitness after gaining so much weight during her pregnancy, and was now in the best shape of her life.

"Just felt like looking out this window." Fred said, turning himself so that he was facing away from the window and turned towards his baby sister.

"Oh, okay." Ginny said, giving him a look. She knew her brother was depressed, but didn't know what to do about it. She had read some books, but all they told her was to be there for him. "You know, if you want to talk about it..." Ginny let the offer die out, knowing he knew what she was offering by the look he gave her. It was his first genuine smile since they had found Hermione again.

"Thanks, Ginny." Fred said, really happy about the offer, but notwilling to accept. "but I don't even know what I'd say at this point. I'm still working through it all." He turned to face the window again, the one that looked out to the spot where he and Hermione shared many moments when they were younger. "It all seems so unreal to me." He didn't turn to look at his sister but heard her get up and leave when one of the babies started crying. He sighed and leaned back into the old, worn out couch. No one ever said love was easy.

_Especially if you don' have the one you love to help you _Fred thought. He would go to her, but he knew the consequences of doing that. It had taken both George and Charlie to restrain him and keep him from going back to the house. It's not as if he was giving up, no. He hadn't waited ten years and learned nothing of the value of patience.

**The Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**

**The Dungeons**

"What do you want?" Kym semi-shouted at the people who were staring at her as she walked past them. Potions was a double class with Gryffindor , luckily no Angelina, but she was getting stared at quite harshly and steadily.

"Don't sit here." It was Kym's friend, Abby, who was normally her potions partner, and had been sense first year. She looked regretful to have to do it, but Kym just shrugged and sat in the empty desk in the last row which was empty. it wasn't for two more seconds before she felt someone else tap on her shoulder. This time it was Sarah Wood. Sarah was one of the most popular girls in Gryffindor. She was very naturally pretty and was captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. She was a complete tomboy, and most of her friends were the other guys on the Quidditch team.

"This is my desk." She said, glaring at Kym. Kym merely turned and glared at her back.

"And you're sharing it for today." Kym said clamly. For some reason Sarah didn't argue, she just sat down and backed off, which was rare. She was known for her willingness to fight and her stubborn streak a mile long. This time she just sat down and quietly got her things out.

"Page 347, the Draught of Dreamless Sleep, now go." Malfoy shouted as he walked into the classroom. Everone started working immediately without questioning.

"Heat the cauldron, I'll get the ingredients." Sarah said, walking away before Kym could say anything about it. Kym watched as she walked up to the front of the room, whispering something to two of her friends. Something was diffinately up. She came back a few moments later with an armful of ingredients. They went to work silently, chopping different ingredients before starting to mix them all. Kym was watching Sarah's friends suspiciously, and sure enough, they slowly made their way towards them, and once they were close enough they began to roughhouse. It seemed like it was all in slow motion. They started "falling" but then it went wrong. Johanna Eber bumped into one of them, John, and they hit the cauldron at a different angle. The way they hit it sent it straight into Sarah. Without even thinking Kym tossed a mental spell, halting the potion. Sarah looked at her incredulously.

"Move" Kym growled and Sarah jumped away as Kym let the rest of the potion fall to the ground. She took out her wand and cleaned the mess just as Malfoy walked over.

"30 points from Gryffindor for carelessness, each." He threw at the two boys, who looked horrified at whatthey had almost done. "and twenty points from Ravenclaw for reckless use of magic." everyone looked at her but she was busy glaring at Malfoy. "Back to work. Weasley, Wood you're done, leave." Kym rolled her eyes and walked away after grabbing her things. She stormed out of the room, only thinking of hexing Nott for what he'd caused.

"Weasley" a voice called. She turned and saw Sarah Wood running to her. "Wait."

"What do you want, Wood?" Sarah took a moment to catch her breath.

"Why'd you do it?" Kym rolled her eyes.

"I could ask you the same thing." Kym said, smirking. "You did try to send me to St. Mungo's. You do know that's what would have happened, right?"

"You're Ravenclaw." Sarah said, ignoring the question. "So why?"

"You're a Gryffindor." Kym threw back at her. "I still didn't try anything that horrible." Sarah rolled her eyes.

"You saved me." Sarah asked. "Anyone else would've just let me get a cauldron full of Draught of Dreamless Sleep. I'm a Gryffindor and you saved me. But that doesn't matter to you, does it?"

"Not really." Kym said, laughing, making Sarah laugh and shake her head. "I never saw the point in letting a ratty old hat determine who I could be friends with.

"We were put in differet houes for a reason." Sarah argued.

"But does that mean we can't get along?" Kym asked, a little more serious. "Does it mean that a studious person can't give help give information to a brave person who will take action? That a loyal friend who just happens to be meek should be forgotten? That someone who is smart can't be brave and loyal?" Sarah nodded but smirked.

"You said nothing about the sly and cunning." Sarah said, almost laughing

"Because I konw they're just as rotten as everyone thinks they are." This made Sarah laugh. They both started laughing and soon neither could stop, but they didn't know why. Soon the bell wrang and theywere still recovering from their laughing fit as everyone came through the hallway.

"Why are you both still here?" John, one of the boys who had almost cost Sarah her health.

"Talking." Kym said, striaghtening out her clothes and settling him and his friends with a glare. She felt Sarah's uncomfortableness about the situation. She turned and saw Sarah giving her a pleading look.

"You ready to go, Sarah?" Mark, the other guy involved in the cauldron incident. Kym turned and looked at Sarah, who looked very confused and torn.

"Yeah, she is." Kym said, walking away. She turned and started on her way to DADA where she had to prepare herself to see her uncle. He would notice very quickly if something was wrong. Kym had always been closest with her Uncle than anyone else in her family. She walked in the door and almost stopped as she was so confused. Harry was standing in the front of the room with Mad-Eye Moody who was busy casting spells to create an open area in the front of the room that was obviously a dueling platform.

"Kym." A voice called from the back. She saw Tarin and Dana standing in the back of the room waving for her to come over.

"We heard about Potions." Dana said "What exactly happened?" Before she could respond a bell wrang off in the distance. So Kym had to walk to an empty seat, which was a few rows in front of Dana and Tarin. The seats were arranged so that two desks sat against each other so two people had to sit side by side. The seat next to Kym remained empty and as she watched people rush in, she saw them look at her seat, and then immediately go and find a different seat. She sat for a moment contemplating this before it hit her. She was branded. She was becoming the person that no one, literally no one but teachers, would assoicate with or talk to. All because of Nott, the idiot boy.

_That stupid idiot _Kym thought angrily. She felt her fingers sizzle with restrained magic and closed her eyes. She sat, trying her best to keep herself in control. She wished class to start so she would have something else to concentrate on, but it seemed thatthe clock sensed her distress and decided to move slower.

"Miss Weasley." She heard her Uncle Harry call from the front of the room. Kym stood slowly, stretching her fingers in an attempt to ward off her anger.

"Yes, Professor Potter?" Kym said softly, telling him with her eyes how she was feeling. He nodded and gave her a mischevious grin.

"We're waiting for you." He said, almost laughing. "I want you to come and demonstrate a proper duel against Mr. Malfoy. I know you've both had proper training and our next session is about proper duels." Kym nodded dumbly. She loved dueling. she was skilled at it. It was an awesome stress reliever, not to mention she' d get to hex the shit out of Malfoy. She took her robe off grabbed her wand out of her pocket, walking swiftly to her side of the dueling platform. Malfoy was standing there taking his robe off as well, then standing in the ready position. Kym readied herself as well, concentrating on her target, which was Malfoy in this situaton. They bowed to each other and signaled the start of the duel. She looked at Malfoy and saw that he was looking at her intently. Something about the way he was staring at her took her off gaurd for a moment. There was something else she couldn't identify in his eyes. She would've ended up on the wrong side of an '_tarantellegra_' spell if she hadn't noticed the twitch of his hand.

"_Protego_" the sheild went up just in time to block the spell.

_Crap_ She thought _Two minutes in and I'm on th defensive._ She quickly dodged an '_expelliarmus_' before firing one of her own back which just barely missed. Then she took the offensive as he dodged the spell, firing two more of her own spells which turned Malfoy's hair pink and gave him boils. He surprised her by getting off two of his own spells, only one of which hit her. Thanks to that, she was the proud owner of poker straight hair. She didn't really understand that one. She assumed he just got spells mixed up. No one had noticed the change she didn't think, as her hair was tied back, but some hair that fell in front of her face had gone straight suddenly. Finally she fired a quick series of decoy spells. Ones that looked dangerous but didn't really do anything. Once she saw where he was going and knew he wasn't watching, she fired an expelliarmus. What she didn't expect was that right as he saw what she'd done, he fired an '_expelliarmus_' of his own. The result was somewhat comical. Both lost their wands almost simultaneously. Both stood there for mere moments before both summoned their wands and quickly fired stunning spells, only Kym's hit and Malfoy's went off a moment too late and missed her. Malfoy was sent flying backwards and Kym summoned his wand quickly.

"Did anyone pick up any of that?" Professor Potter asked as Kym and Malfoy worked on catching their breath. Malfoy because his stunning had thrown him back and Kym because she realized that half the calss was staring in awe, making her think something was wrong. Kym wasn't very good with crowds and being in front of people. She blushed furiously, walking quickly to her seat to grab her robe while her Uncle was still talking.

"So both of you can do wandless magic?" A voice called out. Kym looked up quickly and noticed people ere staring at her even in her seat. She nodded wordlessly and bluche even worse. She heard a few sniggers but not many, most were still in awe. Kym looked around and couldn't determine why the perfermance was so amazing. Even her Uncle Harry looked shocked. She sat in her seat and motioned for one of her friends to come sit next to her. Tarin jumped into the seat and Kym grabbed her arm, whispering into her ear.

"Why is everyone staring?" Kym asked.

"You didn't notice?" Tarin said softly. "There was something going on with the two of you up there. Your spells were _vicious_." Tarin said, incredulous.

"But we were only using simple stunning spells." Kym said

"I know that, but there was something more. Even Professor Potter noticed it. He looked scared." Tarin said, looking shocked. "Like you were saying one spell, but there was a different spell behind it."

"Is that even possible?" Kym asked. Tarin just shrugged and Kym's Uncle dismissed the class so they got up and left.

Later that day Kym was walking down the hall when she felt someone grab her arm. She turned to see Angelina there, looking worried.

"You need to come with me." Angelina said, looking scared and worried. Kym followed her quickly into an empty classroom. "Uncle Fred was out of town on business this week, am I right?" Kym nodded.

"Yeah he had to go to Sydney." Kym said quickly,waving her off. "What's up?" Angelina just looked regretful and nervously held a newspaper out to Kym.

**Muggle London Attacked, 12 Ministry Officials Killed**

_Last afternoon, right before three in the afternoon, witnesses claim that at least twenty cloaked men attacked a muggle London governmet building, killing 9 muggles and 12 ministry officials working in the building..._

Kym sat staring at the newspaper in disbelief. Attacks? Where her father worked? Was this really happening again? Things like this hadn't happened in ages, since years before she was born. She looked at her cousin, who looked terrfied.

"How did this happen?" Kym asked, incredulous "Security is so tight."

"Security failed." Angleina said, obviously annoyed and upset. "and we weren't prepared. They weren't ready to fight anyone. Muggles couldn't do anything against the magic, and the ministry officials weren't aurors, they had no idea how to fight back."

"That's horrible, people should know these things."

"You know." Angelina said, obviously glad she brought it up. Kym had a feeling this was why her cousin was so eager to talk to her. "You know how to fight and duel better than anyone. Teach. You remember Uncle Harry's stories about Dumbledore's Army. Maybe it's time to bring it back."

"We don't know that we need to lea..."

"You know better than anyone that we need to learn this." Angelina shouted. "You lost your mother, probably to the same people, and your father could have been in this one. We need to know how to defend ourselves, Kym. You can teach us."

"You mean Ravenclaws." Kym said, smirking. Her cousin was a major player in the battles between the houses, so this would be a wake up call for her.

"What?" Angelina looked shocked.

_Bet she didn't think of that_ Kym laughed _How great does she think house separation is now._

"You know that houses don't mesh well." Kym said, using the phrasing that Angelina used a lot. "It wouldn't work."

"Coming from the girl who talks with Slytherins and saves Gryffindors." Angelina shot back, knowing what her cousing was trying to do. "Wo both knw it doesn't matter to you. You trying to prove a point to me isn't important right now. You know that too, don't you? Are you really not going to help prepare us for a war, which you know is coming, just to prove that I was wrong? If so, I'll stop that now. I know I was wrong."

"You know you were wrong, but what about the rest of the school?" Kym said. It was true. How many people would come to an event that would force them to work with people from other houses. It wasn't something that was done very willingly anymore.

"They might not know it yet, but are you going to just forget about them because they don't know?" Angelina asked, getting louder and more upset. "This is where we always make our mistakes. No one is willing to try and fix things because they think no one wants to change. Maybe all people are waiting for is the chance."

"Fine." Kym conceded, smiling a little at her cousin. "You get people to come and I'll be there. Next Tuesday, Room of Requirement, 9 o'clock sharp."


	4. Chapter 4

By the next Monday, Kym had decided no one would be at the meeting. People were still avoiding her like the plague, though Sarah Wood had officialy beome her permanent lab partner. Kym had told Jason Nott the information, telling him of her cousin's plan. Even he thought it was an outrageous plan. It wasn't until Tuesday morning that she question exactly how large of a turn out they would be getting.

_HPhpHPhpHPhpHPhpHPhpHPhpHP_

_Kym ran to breakfast, absolutely positive she would miss it. She rounded the third floor stairs, taking a moment to check her wrist watch, stopping in the middle of the stairs._

_Breakfast hadn't even started yet. She gave a groan of frustration. Sometimes she hated that her dormmates all got up hours early to go run, as they were on the Quidditch team, or go study. It was very hard to judge when she misread her watch. She gave a tired groan, cursing her tired ind for making the mistake. She began on her way again, though much slower. Breakfast would be starting soon, she would just be eating very early._

_"Weasley." an out of breath Sarah Wood approached her._

_"You have a very weird habit of doing that." Kym said, laughing. "Almost every time we have our nice little chats it starts with you chasing me down." Sarah just shok her head, trying to catch her breath. As she panted, her friend, John, form the cauldron incident took over._

_"This meeting people keep talking about it." He started, pushing a strand of brown hair out from in front of his eyes. "Is it serious?" Kym gave him a look. Angelina had been in charge of telling Gryffindor. She must of done a pretty good job if even the Quidditch players heard about it. They weren't always on the top of gossip, especially in Gryffindor where Quidditch was taken very seriously. It wasn't that they weren't told, as they were the most popular in their houses, they just didn't care if it didn't have to do with Quidditch or House fighting._

_"It was Angelina's idea, but she wants me to teach it." Kym said, nodding seriously. They all looked slightly surprised and impressed. 'All' was really only Sarah, John, and two other guys she didn't know, but still. She figured it was a good sign._

_"Awesome" Sarah said, smiling. "You would be involved in making this hapen though. A group dedicated to all four houses, when none of them can sem to get along."_

_"That's sometihng we're working a lot on." Kym said, giving a smirk that made the guys uncomfortable. Sarah had always said she had a very evil looking smirk, which always made Kym smirk more just out of amusement. Sarah just laughed and turned to the guys._

_"We'll be there." Sarah smiled. "With friends. This is going to be huge."_

_ HPhpHPhpHPhpHPhpHPhpHPhp _

During the text two periods, until lunch, Kym was much more aware of the stares and glances she was getting. Keeping in mind how Sarah reacted, Kym saw things a little different. People were trying to size her up. Apparently the only fact that was getting passed around was that Kymberly Weasley was teaching people to duel, and it would be a worthwhile lesson. People were staring not because she was an outcast, but because they were intrigued by what she was trying to do. For some reason it had become some unwritten rule that Dumbledore's Army wasn't to be talked about openly. Her friends were much more vocal about their opinions.

"I can't believe you're going through with this." Tarin said, looking "You were never very good with large groups."

"The groups not going to be that large is it?" Kym asked, suddenly getting nervous. She knew there were going to be some people, but it didn't really occur to her that there would be a large group.

"Are you kidding?" Dana squealed. "Everyone's talking about it"

"Seriously?" Kym suddenly felt very nervous and sweaty. Tarin and Dana shared an incredulous look. Kym suddenly felt very naive for not expecting a large group.

"Seriously." Tarin said, as if she were stating the obvious.

"Everyone?" Kym's head was spinning and refusing to accept the facts.

"Everyone." Dana said, mimicking Tarin's tone.

"This was bad idea." Kym said, standing and preparing to run from the Great Hall. "This was a serious bad idea. Why did I agree to this? Why did you two let me agree to do this?"

"Oh no, no, no." Tarin said grabbing Kym and pulling her down.

"A professor would've been so much better to do this." Kym continued, though she let herself be pulled down.

"Stop." Dana said, popping and orange slice into Kym's mouth, who immediately grabbed it and ate it herself. "You are plenty qualified. You are the best duelist anyone here has seen. Are you really going to back out now? No one would do better than you." Dana said, giving Kym a one armed hug. Kym took a deep breath.

"No one understand why this is as important as you do, Kym." Tarin said. "You know why we have to do this." Tarin stood and walked out of the Great Hall without so much as a goodbye. Others stared at her but Kym just looked at her plate of food. She understood. Just like Tarin understood the fight just as well as Kym. Tarin's parents were mysteriously murdered the summer before last year. She lived with a foster family now in downtown London. They both could see the fight ahead. It was a personal fight for both of them. Kym looked up at Dana and gave her a determined stare.

"Lets do this." Kym said, smirking once again, making Dana laugh.

**Annapolis, Maryland**

**1 Shipwright Street (Evan's House)**

Hermione at in her room, staring at a picture of her and Aiden from his last birthday. It was a funny shot of Aiden on Hermione's lap with a birthday cake in front of them, except Aiden was busy trying to shove a piece of cake into Hermione's face as she tried to stop him. She had been remembering everything and it was very disconcerting. It seemed like everything she thought was completely wrong. Including Aaron. He was becoming increasingly nervous and controlling.She remebered Kym. Her daughter. Her daughter that she abandoned. And Fred. How much this must have hurt him.

_But they don't care_ Hermione thought sadly _They weren't exactly sending out a search party._

"Yes they did." a voice said. It was Aaron. Hermione turned, surprised. "Don't freak out, Hermione. You were thinking out loud again."

"Why would I freak out?" Hermione asked, ignoring the second part of his comment. "Do I have a reason?" She patted her pocket instinctively for her wand, but cursed when she remembered she didn't have it.

"I have something to tell you." Aaron said, acting jittery as he had been all weekend. "I wanted you to hear it from me, not someone else. I've been trying all week to tell you, but it's complicated."

"What is it?" Hermione asked, cutting off his babbling, feeling very tense.

"I'm a wizard." Hermione wanted to scream. Tricked again."No, it's not like that." Aaron corrected when he saw her face. "I didn't know you werea witch, Hermione.I swear I had no idea until all those wizards came into our house. I was trying to escape the wizarding world, I didn't want to be there anymore. I thought you were my escape."

"Why did you react the way you did when they came, then?" Hermione asked. Aaron had come in swinging a candlestick for Merlin's sake.

"That candlestick is where I hide my wand for emergency situations. Didn't seem practical to throw it away." Hermione nodded. It was kind of difficult to accept this information.

"Why did you want to get away?" Aaron looked somewhat guilty.

"I come from a pureblood family." He said, as if that explained everything. At Hermione's look he added on. "They were death eaters, and that's all they were interested in me becoming. I saw what they did during the last war and was horrified. After nothing happened to them, I lost my faith in the Wizarding world. Bad guys may get away in the muggle world, but at least they have an excuse. They don't have the resources we do. It seemed that muggles were a little more pure, so I decided to come here."

"Okay." Hemione said,nodding at him. She took a deep breath, still having trouble acceptinghis information. "Thank you for telling me, Aaron."

"I needed to tell you, Mia, because I love you." He put a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Once I discovered you were a witch, my need to tell you only grew. I want to stay with you, no matter what. If that means moving back to the Wizarding world, so be it. If it is what you want, I'll do it. As long as I have you, I'll be happy. Just please say you'll stay with me." Aaron said, looking in her eyes. Hermione's eyes watered at the intensity behind his words. Aaron was such a great guy. And he would always be there for her. He was the perfect guys for her. All guilty thoughts of Fred pushed aside, she smiled at him.

"Of course I'll stay, Aaron." Hermione said, giving him a tight hug. "Me being a witch doesn't change how I feel about you."

"Good" Aaron whispered, breathing a sigh of releif into her hair.

**The Burrow**

**The Kitchen**

The entire surviving Weasley clan sat around the Kitchen table, more than half of them giving Fred questiong glances. He hadn't spoken one word to them since they had returned to the Burrow days ago. He would only speak with George, and even that took a lot of prodding. Ginny sat at the counter preparing a nice iced lemon pound cake for everyone, tapping her foot impatiently. Ever since Hermione's supposed death years ago, there had been doubt, but Fred would speak nothing on the subject. He wouldn't talk about what happened after they were captured. He would only break down and keep saying 'they took her, they took her. I wanted to do the right thing'

"Okay, that's enough, Fred." Ginny said, slamming the now ready pound cake on the table. "We need to know what happened. Everytihng. That means who took you, where, why, and what they did to Hermione." Everyone gave her shocked and almost offended looks, but no one protested as they all turned to Fred, waiting to see if he'd answer. He didn't. Instead he just stood and walked from the room, apparating away once he was outside the wards around the house.

"Geez, Gin." Charlie said. "Wrong time to let the Weasley temper fly." He didn't sound mad at her, just shocked. Sense havng her triplets, she hadn't really let her temper flare very much, in fear of it affecting her children.

"She's not completely wrong, though." Percy added in, almost relaxing into his chair as he spoke, but somehow retaining a perfect seeming posture the whole time. "Doesn't it seem imperative at this point for him to tell us?" Everyone was quiet for a moment until George shook his head.

"I'm going to have to hurt Fred for putting me in this situation."

"What's that." Bill asked, slightly amused as he could see what was coming.

"I haven't had to admit that Percy made sense in years." George let out an exaggerated shudder. "It just doesn't feel right." Everyone laughed but George remained standing. "I'm going to go find him."

George walked out the door, trying to think of where Fred would go. Suddenly it made sense. When they were younder, whenever Fred wanted to get away, he'd simply apparate to the one place he said would always make sense to him. George chuckled to himself and made his way to the reptile house at the muggle zoo on the outskirts of London. He was shocked to find that he wasn't there. He almost thought that maybe there was some invisibility involved, but shook it from his mind.

Next he apparated to Fred's house in muggle London.Immediately when he got their some muggle alarms went off but they wre quickly disarmed as George knew the passcodes.

Fred sat at his desk in the study, staring at the blank piece of paper in front of him. He had been trying to write a letter to Kym. It really was harder than it sounded. It was coming up on the fifth anniversary of when Hermione was taken, and Fred was dealing just as well as he had dealt every other year, which wasn't very well. He couldn't help but think of Hermione and their child. It would be almost 5 years old. Fred scoffed at himself. He was too cowardly to try and defy the people who kidnapped her, in fear that they would kill her, so he didn't even know the gender of his own baby. He dropped his head onto the desk in dispair. He couldn't help but miss Hermione, and feel guilty. He had decided quickly, wanting Hermione to stay alive and have the choice of happiness even if it wasn't with him. But what if she didn't have it? What if she were completely miserable? A few tears slid down his face before he could wipe the tears, and Fred pulled out a second piece of paper, sliding the one he had addressed to Kym off to the side. This letter had to be written before he lost his nerve.

"Brother of mine, where are you?" A voce called from the kitchen. George waltzed in and laughed at his brother's deer-in-headlights look. Before Fred could react, George snatched the letter away from him and began reading, thinking it was a funny letter. As he read, the smiled dropped from his face and was replaced by a look of complete horror and revulsion. "What have you done, Fred?" Fred immediately started sobbing.

"I thought I was saving her." Fred said, finally breaking down into sobs. He continued to explain the truth behind the kidnapping and his release. George sat down in the chair opposite Fred's as the story progressed, his legs failing because of the shock. His brother had done the most unselfish thing, in a way. He let himself be miserable so that Hermione had a chance to live and raise their child, even if he would never meet him or her.

"I don't blame you for anything, Fred." George said, shaking his head. "I think we should go to Dumbledore about this."

"No! Don't you remember what I said. Dumbledore is not himself." Fred said exasperatedly. It seemed his family was having problems seeing Dumbledore as evil in any way.

"He could be now. Someone could only have been using the body for a while to search for something. If you won't go to Dumbledore, we need to at least tell the Order. They can help us find her."

"No!" Fred said, shocked. "What if they find out. I don't want the mother of my children or my son to be killed. I've done enough harm already." They sat in silence for a few moments, until a thought came to Fred. "Wait, if the Order doesn't know, why was McGonnagal at the house? As far as I know she still teaches at Hogwarts."

"She does." George said, nodding. "Still teaches Transfiguration."

"I'm sensing the Order isn't exactly keeping us informed." Fred said, looking puzzeled. George nodded, realizing maybe there **was** a little bit more to the situationthan they were being led to believe.

**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**

**The Room of Requirement**

Kym walked into the Room of Requirment and nearly fainted at the size of it. She'd only willed for a room big enough to fit all the people plannig to come to tonights meeting. She groaned softly, knowing that the room was probably closer to correct then she was on the number of people coming. She looked down at her parchment, which she had filled with things to say to the people who came, and tore it in half. It seemed wholly inappropriate and not good enough. She sat in on of the many chair adorning the sides of the room and sighed. This was going to be an interesting meeting. Or a complete disaster. Maybe both. She worked a hand through her hair, which was apparently now poker straight for eternity thanks to one Vincent Malfoy.

She sighed again and leaned back, trying to think of how this was going to work out. It would be interesting. Her winging an important meeting in front of a lot of people. At the very least it would give everyone there a chance to laugh at her. She looked around a little more closely and noticed something. The entire room was done only in colors not found in any of the houses. There was no green, maroon, blue, silver, gold, yellow, bronze, or black. The entire room was done, albeit plainly, in shades of brown and tan. The stone walls only had draperies with brown backgrounds with pinks, whites, oranges, and purples. It made her laugh a bit. Even the castle was trying to bring an end to the stupidity that had overtaken the school.

She re-organized her thoughts in her head, arranging a lot of them on the houses. Finally, with about an half hour until the beginning of the meeting, people started arriving. Kym was shocked at how fast they were coming in. Finally, at almost exactly on time, the doors were shut and there was a loud buzz of conversation regarding the organization of the room. Kym had taken three other seats, for an obvious purpose, to the front of the room. Beyond that it was a free for all. There were no defined areas for group, just a big empty space with a few chair lining the edge of the room. As everyone quieted down, Kym smirked. They had done exactly what she had hoped.

"Okay." Kym said, somewhat loudly, but no one seemed to hear as they kept talking. "Can I have your attention, please?" She tried again but with no luck.

"Every one shut the hell up" A voice bellowed. Kym turned and saw Sarah Wood giving her a smile and a thumbs up. Kym took a deep breath and managed to return the smile. At this point everyone had stopped talking and was staring at her. Kym felt the panic building in and almost ran when she felta hand on her shoulder. She turned and saw why everyone had become quiet, and it wasn't Sarah's shouting. Jason Nott, Christopher Goyle, Vincent Malfoy, and Sabrina Zabini were all standing there, looking bored. Kym suddenly lost her shyness thanks to their attitude. She rolled her eyes.

"Take a seat." She hissed, pushing thme forward. They walked forward slowly and sat off to the side. Kym rolled her eyes. "Rule #1- If you're late, you don't want me to know. You come in quietly and sit down." She eyed the Slytherins. "We don't need to waste our time with your theatrics." There was murmur through the room as people realized she was serious and this was starting. "Rule #2- Starting immediately, you are not allowed to sit next to a house mate." She stopped and watched but no one moved. "That means now." Still, no one moved.

"Okay, if this is how everyone is going to act, we should just stop right now." People looked around to see if she was serious and she was, She packed a bag and stood in front of the room. "What good is learning to fight an enemy if the only war you are going to pay attention to is which House is winning the House Cup. Just one question. What's going to happen after Hogwarts? When there are no houses? How are you going to know who to hate then? If the only thing you learned from school is that your house is the best?"

"What's the point?" Someone yelled. Kym looked but couldn't tell who shouted it. She dropped her bag and faced the group.

"If that's seriously how you think, then why are you here?" She asked, sneering."Wanted to see a duel? Anyone who thinks that, could you please get up and leave now? You're wasting our time." A few people did stand a walk away, but a majority stayed. "We have to learn to fight together, people. It doesn't matter what House you were in if a powerful Wizard comes here. He's not going care. Being in Gryffindor and winning the House Cup isn't going to save you from an Unforgivable." People shifted uncomfortably.

"We can live with that, but why do we have to sit with them?" A small Ravenclaw called out. Kym smiled.

"Name five people, from and House besides Ravenclaw, that you are friends with and that you are confident would have your back in a honest to goodness duel" The small boy stoof for a moment in silence, thinking, before grabbing his bag and walking to the dead center of the Gryffindor group and sitting down.

"Now lets move." Kym said again. Again, no one moved. Then Vincent Malfoy stood and walked to the opposite side of the room, where all of the Hufflepuffs were sitting, and sat down. Then Sarah moved and sat next to the Slytherins. Then John went and sat with some Ravenclaws. Soon everyone was up and moving around. Once everyone was seated again, Kym almost had to laugh at some of their expressions. Sarah had ended up next to Christopher Goyle, and was looking as if she might be sick. Jason Nott ended up near a few giggling fourth years, and was looking as if he might run and jump off the North Tower. Suddenly Angelina came up to her.

"What are you thinking?" Angelina asked, not looking very happy. "People didn't come here for therapy time."

"We can't get better till we fix what's wrong." Kym shrugged. "How many of you know why this group was created?" A Ravenclaw girl rasied her hand. Kym pointed to her and she stood, making Kym feel kind of small. The girl was most likely muggle-born as she was sporting a pair of jeans and a shirt for a band called The Red Hot Chili Peppers. Her robe was lying on the floor next to where she had been sitting, obviously tossed away without a second thought. She was really tall, which was why Kym felt small. She had to be almost 5' 11". She tossed a pieace of her light brown hair over her shoulder.

"Aren't we here to learn how to defend ourselves?" She said with a thick American accent that threw Kym off. She hadn't known there were any American's here, let alone one in her own house.

"Yes, we are." Kym said, nodding. "But from who?" The girl shrugged and sat down. "This group was made when our parents were our age. They had someone they were fighting. A dark wizard named Voldemort." A few people squirmed uncomfortably. "That threat is here again. Now. That is what we have to defend ourselves against. Someone has chosen to continue his work. That is why we're here." She stopped and the entire room was silent. Kym turned and saw Angelina, who looked shaken and unhappy.

"What are you doing?"

"Teaching." Kym said. "They have to know what we're up against. Why don't you want me to tell them?" Kym was confused. This was Angelina's idea, and now she wanted them to censor what they told everyone.

"Not everyone believ..." Kym stopped listening and turned to the class.

"Who doesn't believe me?" Kym asked the nervous looking crowd. "The killing has already started. The disappearances. It is just like before and, just like before, no one wants to believe what is happening." She paused and was met with more silence and fidgetting. "Anyone who doesn't want to be apart of this anymore can leave. We have a threat, we have to learn to protect ourselves." About a little over half left, thogh some paused when none of the Slytherins stood and walked away. They were down to just about 20 people. The ones left looked determined, not nervous. Kym looked and saw that, from Gryffindor, the only ones left were Sarah, John, the 2 other Quidditch team mates from earlier, and a girl she didn't recognize. Angelina had left. Ravenclaw, unsurprisingly, had the largest representation but, very shockingly, Hufflepuff had the second largest.

"We're ready." Sarah called from her spot in between a Hufflepuff fifth year and a Ravenclaw seventh year.

"Okay." Kym said, smiling "The two most important things you should know when dueling is how to cast a sheilding charm, for obvious reasons, and how to stupefy your opponent. We are going to start off by learning these. Who knows these already?" A few seventh years raised their hands, but not many. "Lets start with the sheilding charm." They went on and by the end of practice, 17of the 23 club members were able to succesfully cast the charm.

Kym made her way down the hallway, trying to be stealthy because it was hours after curfew. Just as she passed the statue of Gireo the Greusome, which she nerver liked because it really gave her the creeps, someone grabbed her.

"Who's there?" Kym shouted, grabbing her wand form her pocket and trying to locate whoever pulled her into the alcove.

"Wait." The voice shouted. "I didn't mean to scare you. I was calling your name but you didn't answer." Kym lit her wand and saw the girl who answered her earlier in the meeting.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Kym apologized. "Who are you"

"I'm Kelsey." The girl said, smiling. Kym almost started laughing.

"You have a really thick accent, where are you from?"

"I'm from Tennesse." She said. "My mom's from Surrey, that's why I still got a letter to come here." She had pulled her layered hair to one side and was playing with it, making the layers stand out more.

"And you're a Ravenclaw?" The girl nodded.

"Seventh year." Kym gave her a confused look. "I don't really care about houses too much, most of my friends are in Hufflepuff so I go over there a lot."

"Why did you need to talk to me?" The girl's smile fell from her face, her eyes, which Kym had originally thought were just a light blue, darkened to a steel grey color.

"Is it true, what you said." She paused, looking desperate."You know, about another Dark Wizard coming?" Kym merely nodded and the girl started to break down.

"What's wrong?" Kym asked. "You don't have to be upset. We can fight. We can win." The girlshook her head.

"That's not what it is." The girl said, managing to stop her tears. "Last time, though I don't really remember because I was young, they came for my parents and my brother. My dad is a muggle but apparently my mom was a squib from a pureblood family. They got her. They took my mom." The girl managed to stay calm, but Kym could tell she wanted to cry more. "I just don't want to loose anyone else"

"I can't promise you wont." Kym said. "And I know that sucks, trust me. I lost my mom too. Five years ago, when things hadn't really started yet." Kelsey looked surprised but Kym nodded. "All you can do is what you're already doing. Learn what you can and hope for the best."


	5. Chapter 5

Kym sat watching the snow fall from her seat by the window in her Defense Against the Dark Arts class, contemplating different choices for the meeting tonight. It had been a few weeks since that first meeting and the group had dwindled down to grand total of 17 students, as her continued integration efforts made more people uncomfortable. Those that were left, though, we close. Kym couldn't pretend to know every one of them, but she could recognize them. At first, people tried excluding those they knew were taking part in the group and tried to mess with them, but soon learned better. There was an incident that involved Kym hexing a seventh year Gryffindor, who attempted to hex Sarah Wood, so badly that he was still recovering, and people realized that this group was one that protected its own very fiercely.

They were also becoming very well known for their dueling. It had only been a month and a half and they had mastered the shielding charm, stupefying, many defensive fighting tactics, and several interesting hexes. They were supposed to work on attacking techniques soon, as Kym was starting to feel a sense of urgency. Disappearances were becoming so common that the Daily Prophet was beginning to ignore them. There would be a fight soon without a doubt, and Kym wanted the group members to be ready, just in case. They were all becoming very strong fighters, but they wouldn't stand a chance against a real Death Eater.

"Kymberly" Kym looked u to see her Uncle staring at her. She looked around and noticed that the room was empty. "What's going on?" Kym cringed, not really wanting to answer the question with 'oh nothing, Uncle Harry, just about how the group I resurrected would probably die if they fought Death eaters'. Just as she was about to make up and excuse, her Uncle's attention was pulled to an owl tapping furiously at the window. It was her dad's owl, she knew because she helped pick it out.

"What does my dad want?" Kym asked as the color drained from her Uncle's face. "Did something happen?" Kym managed to get out, though nerves were making it a little difficult to breathe.

"No, no." Harry said quickly, still studying the letter. "Just basic news and it is from your Uncle George." Kym shrugged. Her Uncle George's owl was ancient and got tired easily, but he loved it too much to get rid of it. Adonis, her father's owl, was young and energetic so they let George use him for long journeys.

"Oh." Kym said, still suspicious but not willing to say anything.

Kym walked into the Room of Requirement later that day to find a group already there, and not looking particularly happy. She saw that many were surrounding a little girl, consoling her. Even the Slytherins were there. Suddenly they noticed she was there. They all whispered for a moment before a furious Kelsey started on her way over.

"What's" Kym started, but she was interrupted.

"This is your fault." Kelsey said, getting up and storming over to where Kym was. Her accent was thick through the anger in her voice.

"What is?" Kym asked, honestly confused, Kelsey tossed a newspaper at her. On the front page was an article about an attack not far from downtown Muggle London. 13 people were killed, one of them being a Hogwarts seventh year student who was part of their group. Apparently he had gone home for a family thing and was there when the attack happened. The article didn't go into many details, only going long enough to state the facts and say that there were no suspects.

"How is this my fault?" Kym asked. Kelsey just glared.

"You said you were getting us ready. So that things like this could be avoided." She said, obviously near hysterics. Kym sat back. She had said that, almost.

"I said I was getting you ready. It's a process." She took a deep breathe, not wanting to get upset. "We can't predict these things. They suck, yeah, and we'd rather not have them happ-" Kym was cut off again by another girl.

"He was my cousin." Another little girl that Kym recognized as being a Hufflepuff fourth year. She didn't look sad or upset, just kind of dismissive.

"I'm so sorry."

"He tried to fight instead of running." Kym's heart dropped. Maybe their progress had made them a bit cocky in their abilities.

"I-"

"Don't be sorry." The little girl said. The entire group had migrated around them and was listening intently to the conversation. "I was sad, but I'm okay."

"Why?" Kelsey blurt out. "He's dead, not coming back, and you're okay? People are dead. We are supposed to be learning how to stop this and we aren't. What difference have we made on anything?"

"People lived because of him." The little girl said. "Vincent explained it to me. He made it make sense." Kym's eyes shot up. Tears were welling in her eyes, she felt so much blame. Vincent wasn't with everyone, but with the other Slytherins on the very edge, having their own heated conversation.

"I say, for now at least, we talk instead of practice." Kym said. "I don't think anyone is in the right state of mind to be learning hexes." Everyone nodded and a few laughed softly. Kym lasted about ten minutes before going forward and grabbing Vincent, pulling him aside.

"What did you say to her?" Kym asked once they were in the hallway next to the room. Vincent just stood there looking shocked and confused. "The girl who lost her cousin."

"The truth." Vincent shrugged. Kym motioned for him to continue, exasperated, and shockingly Vincent didn't smirk, but remained serious. "Her cousin died because he wouldn't stop shielding everyone. Literally everyone. He expanded his shield to cover every person there and they killed him for it. Anyone alive who escaped has him to thank." Kym smiled.

"You really do make a horrible Slytherin." Vincent shrugged, smirking in reply.

"I'll take that as a compliment," Kym nodded and looked around. "You still don't like me, do you?" His voice was grim, Kym shrugged and looked down.

"I'm beginning to think I don't know enough to judge." Kym looked down. "And maybe judging the little I do know isn't enough." Vincent took her chin, gently lifting her head so she was looking him in the eyes.

"I know I'm not a wonderful person, but one of the hardest moments in my life was when you told me you hated me. I don't want to be someone you hate." he kissed her softly. Kym felt herself respond gently, but the kiss was over almost as suddenly as it had started. His face lingered millimeters from hers, their foreheads touching. "You know how I feel; things haven't changed in five years. Just get to know me, Kym. I don't want you to hate me." He backed up, sighing, and walked inside, leaving Kym to her conflicting thoughts.

Kym walked inside a little while later, still looking very shocked. She hadn't been expecting that. She'd thought she was content to ignore him, but it was becoming really hard. Tarin came rushing over moments later.

"What just happened?" She asked, looking excited.

"Nothing." Kym said sternly. "I had a question for Malfoy."

"That's why he just came to Jason talking about how he was such a bloody idiot and mucked everything up." Tarin smirked at Kym's blush. "Did he?"

"Did he what?" Kym asked. Tarin sighed exasperatedly.

"Keep up." She laughed. "He's really got you, huh?" Kym shook her head.

"Not at all." She shrugged. "Nothing has changed."

"You know you have to be the only person who believes that you hate him." Tarin said, rolling her eyes. "Do you even believe it?" Kym stopped where she was, surprised. Did she?

"Oh, Merlin." Kym groaned. He really had gotten to her and she wasn't willing to do a thing about it. "Not a word." She said to Tarin, who looked about ready to explode. Tarin laughed.

"Of course." Tarin smirked. "Just promise to make me the maid of honor at your wedding." Kym screamed in frustration, catching the attention of most of the people in the room.

"Okay, let's learn something new that's not a hex." Kym said, walking to the front of the room. She could tell a lot were relieved that she changed her mind. "This isn't anything like what we have been studying. We're going to be learning the Patronus Charm. It is very useful for protection and communication.

"Isn't it only to use against dementors?" A girl asked. Kym recognized her as a late joiner from Hufflepuff.

"No, not really." Kym corrected, finally remembering that the girl's name was Serena. The girl was really nice, always offering her help when the others needed it, but she got frustrated when it came to learning new spells, especially the complex charms that took loads of concentration. She had trouble learning them. "A patronus can be a very useful thing to have on a battlefield. It does ward off dementors, as well as lethifolds, but a patronus can also be used as a messenger. This is an invaluable skill to have when in the midst of a major duel or battle."

"It sounds difficult" Serena said, twisting the blonde section of her hair before dropping it, and going for one of the red pieces that lines the bottom of her hair.

"It is." Kym nodded. "It takes a lot of work and will probably be the topic for our next few meetings." She sighed seeing many disinherited faces. "I've already mastered this spell, over the summer with my uncle, would you like to see it?" everyone nodded. "alright now all you have to do is think of a happy thought and then say the incantation like you mean it."

Kym walked what she felt was a safe distance from the group before closing her eyes, bringing forth memories of her family. She saw her Aunt Ginny, her cousins, her father, all of her uncles. Just as she was about to cast the spell another image popped in her head. It was Malfoy. Holding her. And they were happy.

"_Expecto Patronum_" She shouted. I sharp silvery light shot forth from her wand, startling her. It was always a soft silvery mist that slowly became a small fox. Always. The light stopped, growing in size and brightness. She went over to her group, who were all looking amazing, obviously never having seen the spell preformed properly. Jason Nott and Vincent Malfoy, however, were not even paying attention, they were arguing quietly.

Kym pushed the thought from her head, turning to face the glowing orb that was now floating around them. Suddenly, the orb started to descend quickly, beginning to morph into a new shape. Finally, it had turned into a small white ferret. It didn't have the misty quality of a normal patronus, and wasn't moving with Kym's wand. Looking down she realized she was no longer even casting the spell. A ferret wasn't even her patronus. Looking around she could tell that people were beginning to catch on to Kym's nerves. That ferret was real.

**(A/N: I'm soooooooo sorry that this has taken me forever and a day to get to everyone, I've been so incredibly busy, I'm an architecture major, so I have like to free time, and the time I do have I use to sleep. I promise to try and update more often!! **

**PLEASE REVIEW)**


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